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Genesis 9:13

I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

  • KJV King James Version

    I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.

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Examined in Scripture Analysis

Science (1)

Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.

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Contradictions (1)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

  • Will God flood the earth again?

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Cross-references (3)

Passages linked to Genesis 9:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Ezekiel 1:28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh’s glory. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
  • Revelation 4:3 that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.
  • Revelation 10:1 I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. I do set my bow in the cloud.…

13. I do set my bow in the cloud. From these words certain eminent theologians have been induced to deny, that there was any rainbow before the deluge: which is frivolous. For the words of Moses do not signify, that a bow was then formed which did not previously exist; but that a mark was engraven upon it, which should give a sign of the divine favor towards men. That this may the more evidently appear, it will be well to recall to memory what we have elsewhere said, that some signs are natural, and some preternatural. And although there are many examples of this second class of signs in the Scriptures; yet they are peculiar, and do not belong to the common and perpetual use of the Church. For, as it pleases the Lord to employ earthly elements, as vehicles for raising the minds of men on high, so I think the celestial arch which had before existed naturally, is here consecrated into a sign and pledge; and thus a new office is assigned to it; whereas, from the nature of the thing itself, it might rather be a sign of the contrary; for it threatens continued rain. Let this therefore he the meaning, of the words, ‘As often as the rain shall alarm you, look upon the bow. For although it may seem to cause the rain to overflow the earth, it shall nevertheless be to you a pledge of returning dryness, and thus it will then become you to stand with greater confidence, than under a clear and serene sky.’ Hence it is not for us to contend with philosophers respecting the rainbow; for although its colors are the effect of natural causes, yet they act profanely who attempt to deprive God of the right and authority which he has over his creatures.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hereby we see that signs or sacraments ought not…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I do set my bow; Heb. I have given,…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I do set my bow in the cloud,.... Or…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I set my bow in the clouds - The…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. I do set my bow in the…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 9:13. I set my bow in the clouds…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain My rain bow. This had been from the beginning;…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain RAINBOW. (Gen. 9:8-29)
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Do set my bow — נתתי, I have…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. I do set my bow in the cloud]…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I do set. Literally, I have given, or placed,…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain The bow is not said to have come into…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:13-16 God brought cataclysmic judgment through the rainstorm; now,…

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